Why Reopening Khartoum Airport Is as Critical as the Frontlines

As Sudanese Armed Forces continue their fight against the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Khartoum faces a challenge no less daunting than the battlefield: rebuilding a shattered capital after two years of war.

At the center of that effort stands Khartoum International Airport, the country’s main gateway to the world, heavily damaged in the fighting and long a symbol of state paralysis at the height of the war.

Now, the Transitional Sovereign Council says repairs are nearing completion. 

Scope of the Achievement

On August 13, Ibrahim Jaber, a council member and assistant commander-in-chief, toured key facilities in the capital, including the airport, alongside senior officials in a signal that reconstruction is being treated as a national priority.

Jaber called the project a political and economic battle for the capital’s return, underscoring the government’s view of the airport as more than infrastructure. According to Sudan Airports Co., rehabilitation work is about 85% complete, including repairs to runways, terminals and basic utilities.

Despite limited resources, Jaber said maintenance teams are pressing ahead under wartime constraints. The next phase, he added, will include resuming domestic flights, receiving official delegations, and opening routes for Sudanese abroad to return home.

The airport’s restoration is part of a wider government plan to raise operational standards and restore services to international levels.

Strategic Artery

Satellite images released on April 14, 2025, revealed the scale of destruction at Khartoum International Airport after two years of war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces.

Time-lapse analysis by Reuters showed how the airport turned into an open battlefield, with plumes of smoke and repeated airstrikes over months, leaving about 50 aircraft destroyed, six of them in the last three months alone, and nearly 70 buildings and logistical facilities damaged.

Transport Minister Abu Bakr Abu al-Qasim called the losses “colossal,” noting that the damage reached runways, terminals, warehouses, and commercial planes, making the airport one of the most visible symbols of the war’s wreckage.

Despite the devastation, the army and government chose Khartoum’s airport as the starting point for reconstruction, calling it a strategic lifeline and cornerstone of the capital’s revival.

That symbolism became clear on July 20, 2025, when a civilian plane carrying Transitional Sovereignty Council leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan landed on its runway for the first time since the war began, signaling that Khartoum was beginning to breathe again.

Al-Burhan inspected an army command post in the city center, while Prime Minister Kamil Idris pledged to rebuild Khartoum and restore it as a “proud national capital.”

The airport that once stood as a witness to destruction has now become the launchpad for a broader national effort to rebuild and revive the capital from the ruins of war.

State of the Capital

Until March 2025, when the army drove the Rapid Support Forces out of the capital, Khartoum was an open battlefield where residents lived amid wreckage and destruction.

As they withdrew, the RSF stripped the city’s infrastructure, looting everything from medical equipment to water pumps and copper wiring.

“Normally in a war zone, you see massive destruction [...] but you hardly ever see what happened in Khartoum,” the U.N.'s resident and humanitarian coordinator, Luca Renda, said.

“All the cables have been taken away from homes, all the pipes have been destroyed,” he told AFP, describing systematic looting of both small and large-scale items.

Today, the capital faces one of its most complex postwar battles: rebuilding power and water systems.

The head of East Khartoum’s electricity department, Mohamed al-Bashir, described “massive damage” in the capital’s main transformer stations.

“Some power stations were completely destroyed,” he told AFP, explaining the RSF had “specifically targeted transformer oil and copper cables.”

The collapse has had a direct impact on residents. Large swaths of Khartoum remain in darkness, while the water crisis fueled a cholera outbreak this summer, with up to 1,500 new cases recorded daily in June 2025, according to United Nations reports.

Back to the Capital

Confronting this reality, Sudan’s prime minister, during his first visit to Khartoum in mid-July, announced that the government would launch a broad recovery effort, declaring that Khartoum would return as a proud national capital.

Idris said that central Khartoum, the commercial and administrative district that witnessed the heaviest fighting, would be cleared and completely redesigned as part of a comprehensive reconstruction plan.

He noted that the government had already begun planning its return from the temporary capital of Port Sudan, where it relocated after the battles in Khartoum intensified.

The United Nations estimated that restoring the capital’s essential facilities will require about $350 million, while full reconstruction will take years and cost several billions of dollars.

On the ground, hundreds of workers and volunteers have already begun repairs in what is expected to be a long and arduous project. The UN projects that as many as two million people will return to Khartoum by the end of the year, with tens of thousands already back despite the difficult conditions.

At the center of this effort stands Khartoum International Airport, seen as the first key to reviving the capital.

It is not just a transport hub but a political, economic, and security gateway for the state’s return to the heart of Khartoum. With the airport restored and reopened, the government will be able to host official delegations, facilitate trade and travel, and secure supplies, making it the foundation of all reconstruction plans.

Symbol of Sovereignty

Sudanese politician Ibrahim Abdel Aaty said that the reopening of Khartoum International Airport is “not just a technical event, but the practical beginning of the capital’s return to its natural role: the seat of sovereign decision-making and the engine of the national economy.”

Speaking to Al-Estiklal, Abdel Aaty explained that restoring airport operations is a political signal that Khartoum is regaining its place after state institutions temporarily relocated to Port Sudan.

He noted that the army and the new government understand that reactivating Khartoum’s political and economic role is essential for stability. “The capital is not just a city; it is the symbol of national sovereignty and the decision-making hub of the Sudanese state.”

But the path back, he cautioned, is full of challenges: from infrastructure destroyed by heavy fighting, to a lack of funding in an economy burdened by war debts, ongoing security threats from remnants of the Rapid Support Forces, and pressing humanitarian needs in health, water, and education.

“As the army continues clearing militias from the provinces,” he said, “the reconstruction of the airport and the entire capital forms a second battle, no less important than the one on the front lines.”

Victory in this effort, he argued, would prove Sudan can rise from the rubble and rebuild its institutions despite the devastation; failure would hand the country’s rivals a new chance to undermine its future.

Abdel Aaty pointed to a circulating video showing staff training on new ground equipment leased by Tarco Aviation at Khartoum airport. “These scenes reflect more than technical training,” he said. “They embody the determination of Sudanese institutions to bring the capital’s airport back to life after more than two years of paralysis.”

“Every step, from repairing runways to training ground crews, carries a strong message that Sudan is moving forward on its own terms, despite the destruction left by the Janjaweed militias [RSP],” he added.

Abdel Aaty concluded that the reopening of Khartoum International Airport will play a vital role in facilitating humanitarian aid and bringing the federal government back to the heart of the capital.

“For most Sudanese,” he said, “the airport is no longer just a transport facility, but a symbol of resilience and national recovery, the starting point of reconstruction that will restore Khartoum’s place as a proud national capital.”